


Perfect

by Primasylph



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Live Action TV)
Genre: 11th hour cameo, Accidental finger touch, Almost Love Confession, Ami Mizuno now with American sass, Anxiety, Awkward Flirting, Blushing, Bratty Nephrite doesn't need your help, Cell Phones, Christmas Presents, Cold Weather, Conflicted feelings about being a senshi Ami, Darkury - Freeform, Died three times, Doctor Mizuno Ami, Elevator Eyes Ami, Eye Contact, F/M, Fatherly Kunzite, Fix It Fic, Fluff, Frustrated Virgin Nephrite, Fuled by anxiety Nephrite, Gift Exchange, Gloves, Holding Hands, Hopeful Ending, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied Senshi/Shitennou, Indirect Kiss, Insecurity, Inspired by Ed Sheeran's "Perfect", Laughter, Let me get close to you...cuz Im cold, Longsword, Micromanaging Mama Mizuno, Mild Blood, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Misunderstandings, Neph always with his heart on his sleeve, Neph is a himbo who tries, Nephami, Nervous wreck on the inside Ami, Oblivious Nephrite, Only Ami may laugh at Nephrite, Past Life Infodump, Post-Canon, Sailor Dark Mercury, Saying more with their eyes than their words, Shitennou, Shitennou on Shitennou fight, Shitennou with a day job, Snow, Spontaneous giggles, Swordfighting, Swordplay, Tentacle Monsters, Texting in the bathroom, The man in black...is silently freaking out, They're wearing their colors, Tokustasu, Vermillion Suzaku, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, We can laugh about it now, Yakisoba, Yoma fight, You will have sex...and die, matchmaking mom, negative self-talk, shared past trauma, teatime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25124128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Primasylph/pseuds/Primasylph
Summary: Set roughly 8 years after the Special Act. Ami has finished her residency in America and is moving back to Japan. She send the news with Christmas gifts for all  her friends, including a certian red shitennou...could this be be the chance these two have secretly been hoping for after all these years?Specifically this fic takes place in that weird time between Christmas and New Years, where the current year isnt quite over but the new year still feels somewhat far off. There is the faint promise of a clean slate and new beginnings of the future but still the grappling of the issues of the past and present. A -dare I say it - *magical time*
Relationships: Furuhata Motoki/Kino Makoto, Implied Kunzite/Dark Sailor Mercury, Mizuno Ami/Gurio Umino, Mizuno Ami/Nephrite, Senshi & Shitennou, Senshi/Shitennou
Comments: 11
Kudos: 8





	1. Hot Drinks On A Cold Day

At the foot of the bronze equestrian statue of Imperial Prince Arisugawa-no-miya Taruhito, stood Nephrite. By all accounts he appeared to be an ordinary-yet-slightly-nervous man, dressed all in black. The only nod to his “other" form was the bright red knitted scarf wrapped around his neck. Feeling the bite of the cold December day, he shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets and balled them into fists. Concealed within one of his closed fists was a small gift box; a source of much of his nervousness. 

  
To take his mind off the cold and his nerves, Nephrite began scanning around him for the person he was waiting for. A nearby clock tower chimed the time.

  
_“She should be here any minute…”_ he thought. As the seconds passed by the nerves came back with full effect, creeping into his mind.

  
_What if she doesn’t show up?_  
_What if I got the time wrong?_  
_Does my hair look stupid?_  
_Do my clothes look stupid?_  
_What if I say something stupid?_  
_What if I don’t know what to say?_

  
“Nephrite?” 

  
Hearing his name called out tugged him away from his downward anxiety spiral. He looked up. There she was, Ami Mizuno, looking effortlessly beautiful in a royal blue coat and off-white scarf tucked neatly under the collar. Her dark hair hung around her shoulders in loose curls. The soft features of her face were accentuated with a light touch of makeup. Nephrite suddenly found it hard to speak or breathe. He was also becoming aware of how much of a creep he must look like, staring at her wide-eyed in awkward silence.

  
_Say something, you idiot!_

  
“A-Ami!” he managed to stammer out. 

  
She smiled brightly. “Tea or hot chocolate?”

  
“Eh?” It took a moment for Nephrite to register that Ami was holding two disposable hot beverage cups in each hand.

  
“I felt bad having you wait out here in the cold for me so I thought it would be nice to pick up some warm drinks for us.”

  
_This girl is too cute and considerate….I don’t deserve to be seen with her._

  
“You didn’t have to do that. The cold doesn’t bother me that much.” He replied in spite of his frozen hands still shoved in his coat pockets.

  
“No, it’s my pleasure!” Ami held the two cups out expectantly. 

  
“Tea's fine.” Nephrite reached out to grab the cup in Ami's right hand. As he did his fingers brushed against hers for a moment. The brief action felt like touching a live wire. Nephrite felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his cheeks redden. He looked up at Ami, whose blushing face matched his own. She quickly averted her eyes and cleared her throat loudly.

  
Nephrite blinked in disbelief at what just happened. Ami hiding her face with a slow sip of hot chocolate, turned toward the park's entrance. “Th-the lake is really beautiful this time of year. It’s just over this way”. 

  
Ami lead the way with Nephrite following at her side, close but not _too_ close. As the two walked, Ami reminisced about the rare times in her childhood when her mother had time enough away from work to take her to the park to play. Nephrite noticed a twinge of melancholy in her voice as she spoke. Admittedly he didn’t know much about Ami's life before she became a senshi, though he gathered it was a mostly lonesome existence. Something he could certainly relate to.

  
After walking along the wooded path for awhile, the two settled on a bridge overlooking the lake. Ami rested her cup on the stone ledge and gazed dreamily at the wintery scene. All Nephrite wanted to do was gaze dreamily at Ami but forced his eyes instead on his cup, which was now warming his hands.

  
“Do you not like your tea?” Ami asked, concerned at how intensely he was staring at his cup.

  
_Way to go, Neph..._

  
“No! Of course I do!” To prove his point, Nephrite took a large swig of his tea…and immediately burnt his tongue. He swore loudly. Ami began spontaneously giggling.

  
“I'm so sorry!” Ami managed to make out through her fit of giggles. “I don’t mean to laugh at you.” Nephrite felt a smile spread across his face and all the tension he held in his body release. Though he generally hated being laughed at, there was something different about when Ami did it. He could listen to the sweet sound all day, even at his expense. 

  
“It’s alright” he assured her.

  
Once Ami’s giggles settled, she took note of Nephrite's scarf. “ So I take it, you like my gift?”

  
“Uh, yeah! I like the color.” His memory suddenly jogged back to the small gift box still in his pocket. “Speaking of…” Nephrite produced the box, plain white with blue ribbon tied around it in a simple bow, and handed it to Ami. “Here.” She undid the bow and opened the box to reveal a pearl bracelet with a delicate silver closure.

  
“It’s beautiful!” Ami exclaimed. “I’m glad you like it. It reminded me of the one you wore when you were a senshi” Nephrite replied. Ami attempted to fasten the clasp herself, then requested Nephrite’s assistance. As he did, he marveled at her petite hands and wondered what it would feel like to hold them in his own.

  
Once successfully clasped, Ami studied the bracelet around her wrist. A contemplative and slightly sad expression came over her. “Is it strange that I miss it? Being a senshi?”

  
Nephrite thought for a moment. “What about it do you miss?”

  
“When I became Sailor Mercury, for the first time in my life I had an outlet to be aggressive and fight. Before I had no idea how good it could feel indulging in these things I never even thought I had the capacity for”.

  
Ami’s face lit up, mentally reliving her past as the senshi of water. From a lone high achiever to an integral member of the sailor team, she finally got to experience the ups and downs of true friendship….until the group began to fracture. Then came Kunzite…and her time in the Dark Kingdom.

  
The smile on Ami’s face faded and her eyes became glassy and downcast.

  
Nephrite didn’t have to ask to know what was going through her mind. His own Dark Kingdom experience was very similar…two wounded creatures lashing out, unfairly manipulated by forces beyond their control. Without thinking, he placed his hand gently over hers. For a moment the two stood there silent, allowing the dark feelings of the past to wash over them and subside. Slowly Ami maneuvered her wrist and fingers around until both their hands were clasped together. 

  
Their eyes met, both full of a longing both new and somehow familiar. Nephrite stood there, awe-struck by the woman who’s fingers were now intertwined so intimately with his. The cold was now replaced with a wonderful warmth. Ami’s lips parted and drew a breath, about to speak…

  
Suddenly, Ami’s cell phone rings.  
With a quick “Sorry!”, she tore her hand away to retrieve the obnoxiously loud device from her purse. The warmth that enveloped Nephrite was replaced with the biting cold once again, though he felt the unmistakable sensation of his heart beating in his throat. 

  
_That look in her eye…_  
_The way she held my hand…_  
_What was she going to say?_

  
Though he didn’t mean to, his keen ears couldn’t help but pick up Ami’s end of the conversation.

  
“Hi Mama…yes, I remember. I won’t be late…oh…Mama, you really don’t have to do that, I - …fine. If it’s really that important to you…Mama, I have to go. I’ll see you tonight… Love you too.”

  
After returning her cell phone to her purse, Ami turned back to Nephrite with an apologetic smile.

  
“Sorry about that. Ever since I moved back home from the States, my mother has been tying to set me up under the guise of family dinner where we have a guest who just happens to be the son of one of her colleagues. All with promising careers as doctors or accountants or lawyers…all perfectly stable and dull.” 

  
_She hates them all…yes._

  
“Basically if he’s under 30, lives in the greater Tokyo area, and has the personality of a houseplant, my mother has paraded him past me in her dining room within the last month.” She ended with a beleaguered sigh, magnifying her displeasure at the situation.

  
Nephrite chuckled and cast Ami a sideways glance with a smirk. “How would your mother feel about a celestial being who defends the earth against dark supernatural forces with a day job as an office assistant?”

  
Ami chuckled back with a skeptical eyebrow raised. “I find it hard picturing you working in an office." 

  
Nephrite’s posture straightened. “I’ll have you know I have progressed beyond my days as an unruly part-timer at Crown! I am a model employee and more importantly, I don’t get mad and break things.” He finished with a cheesy smile. Ami laughed.

  
“Very well.” She then gave Nephrite a scanning look that made him feel slightly tense.

  
“You know, I just might take you with me to dinner one of these days, just to see the look on Mama's face!” 

  
Nephrite sighed in mock dismay. “Aw, I’m not that bad am I?” 

  
“To my mother, yes!” 

  
“…and…what do you think of me?” he asked more timidly.

  
Ami’s eyes darted away for a moment before replying coyly, “Well…you don’t have the personality of a houseplant, so that’s a massive plus in my book”.

  
Nephrite smiled in earnest. “I’ll take it." He looked into her soft grey eyes, which fluttered shyly before meeting his. Over the course of their conversation, the two had unconsciously moved closer together. Nephrite found it hard to breathe again.

  
_Why are my cheeks so sore? Have I been smiling this whole time? I hope it doesn’t make me look stupid….Ami’s smiling too. Could she also be feeling this way…or is she just being nice to me?_

  
“Is everything all right?” Ami asked, noticing Nephrite’s smile fall somewhat.   
He immediately forced his smile back up in an effort to stuff his insecurity back down.

“No, everything’s fine!”

  
Ami didn’t quite buy it. “Is it because I’m standing so close?"

  
“I hadn’t even noticed”, he lied.

  
“It’s just that I’m quite cold and you’re…very warm. I was in such a rush today I forgot my gloves at home” Ami admitted, blushing with embarrassment.

  
Nephrite’s smile refreshed at the endearing sight and put his arm gently around her. 

  
“I don’t even own gloves.”

Ami giggled. “Doesn’t your shittenou uniform include gloves?”

  
“I guess so…” Nephrite stared out into the middle distance. “They just sort of manifest on me and I don’t think about it.”

  
He looked back at Ami to find her snuggled up next to him, with her head resting lightly against his chest. Her eyes were closed and she looked positively serene. 

  
Nephrite tensed up in absolute doubt of what was taking place. All his feelings of insecurity and inadequacy bubbled up inside him, all reasons why he shouldn’t enjoy the company or affection of someone he has feelings for.

  
_You should push her away. You don’t deserve her._

  
Then he considered the woman under his arm, looking so still and happy. Watching her gentle smile in the golden light of the late afternoon calmed him greatly. Who was he to rob her of this? In defiance of everything, he decided to let the moment be.

  
The nearby clock tower chimed the time again. Ami's eye’s flew open.

  
“Is that really the time?!” She rummaged hurriedly through her purse to find her phone. Upon seeing the time on the digital screen, Ami looked up with a sigh of regret and then to Nephrite, who reluctantly moved his arm away.

  
“I have to go. I have to run home to get ready for dinner at my mother’s. She’s already bombarded my phone with messages of “ _Don’t be late_ " and “ _Don’t forget to wear the dress I bought you"_. She rolled her eyes. 

Nephrite cast Ami a sympathetic smile, who hooked her arm around his. The two grabbed their respective drinks and walked back to the park entrance together.

“Anyways, I – ah – really enjoyed spending time with you”, Ami admitted sheepishly.

  
“Likewise...If you’re not too busy maybe we could do this again, if only for you to fill me in on how your dinner with the human houseplant went.” 

  
Ami laughed, shaking her head. She turned to face Nephrite. “If you are really that invested in who my mother has set me up with this time, I will give you all the scintillating details.”

  
“It’s a date then!” Nephrite said with a smile before catching himself in the forwardness of the statement and looked away, feeling embarrassed. 

  
Ami noticed this and cut the tension with an observation. “Human houseplant…wasn’t that a yoma you sent after me once?!” Nephrite’s eye’s met Ami’s again and they both laughed. 

  
“Probably?!”

  
The two continued laughing until Ami waved her arms in front of her face with a sharp exhale and announced, “I really do have to go!”’

  
The two bid each other a final farewell. Nephrite watched Ami walk away until she disappeared behind a corner. Still holding his cup of tea, he took a sip to find the cold remnants of hot chocolate. He looked down to find the faint peach imprint of Ami’s lip-gloss on the lid.

  
_“When did that happen?”_

  
The thought of his lips having indirectly touched hers made Nephrite catch his breath, along with the possibility of Ami with his cold tea having a similar experience.

  
He smiled to himself, thinking about seeing her again. Only one other time in his life could he recall feeling so hopeful for the future, but this time that hope wouldn’t be for nothing. Nephrite would make sure of that.


	2. Anxiety, Yoma, and Innuemdos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family dinner doesn't go as badly as either hoped. For Nephrite there is either no thinking or over-thinking. Kunzite makes him face some uncomfortable truths. At least yakisoba is delicious.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love being a doctor more than anything, but my mother doesn’t know when to stop micromanaging my life!”

As Ami and Nephrite got lunch together at a local yakisoba stand, the former water senshi continued airing her current parental grievances. Nephrite was just happy to have her company - and provide color commentary to make her laugh.

“Sometimes I think what if I was never a senshi and met Usagi and the others? My whole adolescent life would have been regular school, cram school, studying outside of that, with no friends or social life - oh, and don’t forget eating my lunch on the roof. Alone.”

Nephrite cocked his head to the side. “At least you’d get to eat lunch at some point?”

Ami grinned through a mouthful of noodles, covered politely by her hand. “If only my mother knew what I was _actually_ up to, I can’t even imagine what she’d say. Though she’d be proud to know that even in my corrupted state, apparently I never missed but a day of school or a single exam. Usagi told me.”

Nephrite chuckled. “What is the corrupting power of Queen Metallia compared to years of motherly control?”

“Exactly”, Ami chuckled back. “I’m glad that I can at least joke about it now. I suppose having you to talk to about it makes it easy. You understand.”

Nephrite smiled sympathetically. “The others, they don’t understand?”

“Not really. Even though Usagi was overtaken by Princess Serenity and caused way more destruction than I ever did, she seems totally unbothered now. I wish I could just choose not to dwell on the past as she does, but I can’t.” Ami somberly clutched a hand to her chest with her eyes downcast. “I can actually still feel that pull to the darkness, like an old wound.”

“Mmph!”, Nephrite exclaimed through a mouthful of noodles and broth before swallowing. “I feel that way too, usually when I sense a yoma nearby. They can actually feed off of strong emotions. Ya know, Zoicite and especially Kunzite are always after me about _“clearing my mind”_ and “ _letting go of my feelings”_ before a fight because it can make a yoma stronger and harder to take down. I think it makes me fiercer in battle.” He flashed a confident smile.

Ami’s jovial tone returned and snickered. “Sounds like you’ve got some nagging parents on your hands!”

Nephrite rolled his eyes, still smiling. “Speaking of, how did your dinner with your mother and the human houseplant go?”

Ami rested her head sideways in her palm. “Actually…not that bad.”

“Oh?”

“His name is Umino. He’s a research scientist. He started out a little awkward but was actually quite nice once we got to talking.”

“That’s, um – a pleasant surprise”, He replied, trying not to sound disappointed.

“Yeah. In fact...I’ve agreed to meet him for dinner tonight – If only to get Mama off my back for awhile – but, who knows?”

“Right!”

Nephrite refused to let his face fall in Ami’s presence, despite feeling his confidence deplete by the minute. Ami noticed the shift in his demeanor and decided then to cut their lunch short, as not to prolong the awkward moment for Nephrite.

“On that note, I should get going.”

“So you can get ready?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I won’t keep you then.”

Ami stood up and Nephrite followed suit, avoiding her gaze. Not wanting to leave Nephrite dejected, she called out his name.

“Nephrite! Thank you for lunch and allowing me to vent to you about my mother. You’re…. you’re important to me.”

Only half of his mouth turned up in response. “Don’t mention it.”

Nephrite called back to her. “Ami. Good luck.”

She smiled. “Thanks!”

He made sure his face remained pleasant until he was sure she was gone, then balled his hands into fists

_You are not going to have a “Crown Karaoke Nephrite" Moment. There are too many humans around._

He v e r y c a l m l y a n d d e l i b e r a t l e y stood up, returned his and Ami’s trays before leaving.

Nephrite hoped a walk alone would help to quell the anxious stream of thoughts going through his mind.

_His name is Umino. He’s a research scientist…_

_Meaning he has way more in common with you that I do. Just great._

_I’ve agreed to meet him for dinner tonight – If only to get Mama off my back for awhile – but, who knows?_

_WHO KNOWS?! Who knows – what? If you like this ‘Umino’ enough to date him and reject me?!_

_You’re important to me._

_‘Important' to you. What does that even mean?! Important like some weird acquaintance you can unload about your mother and fucked up past as a corrupted senshi to then forget about when you get a real relationship_?

Nephrite paced around the city for hours, but his overthinking only got worse and worse. Time passed until the shadows grew long and the sun began to set, casting everything in a reddish-orange hue.

_Walking around is no use…_

_I need something to destroy._

As luck would have it, Nephrite sensed three yoma manifest not too far from him.

 _Perfect_.

Ducking into an empty ally, he summoned his longsword and transformed into his shitennou form; _the Vermillion Suzaku._

By the time he got to the small park where the yoma were located, all humans had cleared out of the area.

 _Good_.

He didn’t want anyone around to see the carnage he was about to inflict.

The yoma picked up on his energy signature right away and circled him. He could feel them feeding of off his anxiety-fueled jealousy, rage, and lust, which he welcomed. The red shitennou didn’t want an easy fight.

All three yoma were amorphous creatures exhibiting vague animalistic traits, but nothing in their anatomy denoting any good spots to deliver a killing blow. No matter. Soon they would all have his blade.

Attacking all at once, the yoma extended their various appendages to strike their new prey, but Nephrite moved fast. He quickly hacked through the bombardment of claws, arms, and tentacles but as soon as one was cut off, two more grew in it’s place. Soon the red shitennou’s over-confident lust for destruction was replaced with an overwhelming sense of dread. He had now been reduced to hysterically jumping and ducking just to avoid being overtaken in the forest of limbs. Fatigue now crept through his body.

_What gives? I usually don’t get tired this fast….unless this mental strain I feel over Ami affects me physically too…_

Nephrite’s eyes darted anxiously around the three yoma in hopes of finding some kind of weak spot…

_I just have to find a way to finish these things off!_

Inspecting the limbs again, he found that the claw-like ones all converged in an apex to the left. Surely it’s body was located somewhere in there. Nephrite let out a guttural scream and plunged his sword deep into the center. The yoma shrieked and it’s form dissolved away.

_One down, two to go…_

With his confidence somewhat renewed, the red shitennou moved to attack the remaining two yoma. Perhaps sensing the loss of their comrade, they became more ferocious in the assault of their enemy.

Nephrite aggressively swung his blade into the pair, who avoided the attack and flung their limbs at him. In an instant he found his torso, legs and right arm restrained by tentacles. After struggling for a bit, he shifted his sword into his left hand and plunged it downward in hopes of making a hit. He held his sword down as firmly as he could.

An otherworldly cry! The red shitennou successfully penetrated one of the yoma's bodies but it still continued to restrain and fight him.

“DIE!” Nephrite growled out and thrust his blade in and out of the creature until it released him and dissolved, but not before striking his jaw and knocking him violently to the ground.

The last of the yoma took no time restraining him again and pulling him in to its center, a ravenous mouth lined with rows upon rows of razor sharp fangs waiting to devour him whole. Nephrite used his legs to brace himself from being pulled in too far and struggled to keep ahold of his sword. It looked like there was no hope of escape as his strength was quickly failing him.

_Ami…I hope you and the scientist will be very happy together…_

Out of nowhere a second blade came from behind the yoma and with a quick flourish struck true, vanquishing the horrid creature.

Nephrite with his eyes shut tight and still struggling on the ground, didn’t even notice the yoma was gone until he heard a very familiar smug chuckle above him.

_Shit. I’m really in for it now._

He reluctantly looked up to find the eldest and the leader of the shitennou, Kunzite, returning his _jian_ to its sheath. Nephrite quickly hid his wounded pride behind a mask of defiance.

“I had it!”

“Oh you did not.”

Kunzite extended out a hand to help Nephrite up, which he rejected, shooting the elder shitennou a disgruntled glare. He strained to bring himself back up to standing on his own. Kunzite waited patiently with his arms crossed.

“You know that when more than two yoma manifest with a higher power level, you are to avoid actively engaging until one of us can provide back up.”

“Like I said”, Nephrite replied through heavy breath, fuming, “I had it”.

Kunzite studied the red shitennou for a moment; the heavy breathing, the flushed face, the feral glint in his eye…so familiar…then it clicked.

“Working out a little sexual frustration, are you?”

Nephrite’s eyes narrowed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Please, I can practically see the pheromones radiating off of you. This has to do with your paltry courtship of the former Sailor Mercury.”

Nephrite’s eyes widened before turning his head away, embarrassed to be found out. Kunzite chuckled again.

“And I take it, it must not be going well if you’re taking your frustrations out with your blade than with her?”

Nephrite wrinkled his nose in silent disgust at the innuendo. Seeing right through him, Kunzite raised his eyebrows. “I’ll keep making crass remarks until you answer.”

Nephrite closed his eyes and sighed. “She is having dinner with another man. Of her mother’s choosing”.

“Oh, you’re jealous!” Kunzite asserted mockingly. “So much of a to-do over a girl you haven’t even kissed yet.”

Nephrites eyes darted back to Kunzite. “Have you been spying on us?!”

Kunzite scoffed. “I don’t have to spy to know you haven’t made your move yet. Why else would you be so fussed over her having the attention of another man?”

Nephrite’s scowl released, but his face retained its flush. “I don’t want to come on to her and scare her away.”

Kunzite cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “I would have never pegged you as the gentlemanly type, with how brash and aggressive you usually are. You must really care for her.”

Nephrite raised his hand to his throbbing jaw to wipe blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked down to his gloved hand to find it stained with red.

_“Doesn’t your shitennou uniform include gloves?”_

_“I don’t think about it.”_

He closed his fist, hiding the stain. “And what of it?”

“Well, if your pursuit of Ami Mizuno is successful there is something you should know. There are consequences for shitennou who have dalliances in the human world.”

Nephrite rolled his eyes. “Oh more of this! What is so wrong with wanting an existence that doesn’t revolve around a past-life that I don’t even remember?!”

“Will you stop acting so obstinate and listen to me? When I am done you can tell me to fuck off and leave, but it is important that you hear this!”

Kunzite looked straight into Nephrite’s eyes with a dead seriousness he knew not to take lightly.

“Fine.”

“Zoicite told me once awhile ago, but I didn’t think it pertinent to tell you until now. As the title suggests, there are four shitennou. Just like the four corners of the earth, there can only ever be four. If you were to ever have a child, say with Ami, they would inherit your abilities and essentially replace you."

Nephrite blinked, unmoved. “Is that all?”

“No. In fact as the child grows into maturity, they will gradually siphon off your very life force until you grow weak and die.”

“You expect me to believe that?! Nephrite sneered in response.

With his tolerance for the red shitennou’s attitude waning, Kunzite remained firm. “Go and ask Zoicite if you don’t. He will tell you the same.”

“First you mock me for not kissing her, then you bring up some future child Ami and I might have, and that it might kill me?!, Nephrite snapped back, growing angrier with every word. “Just say you don’t want me and Ami to be together and be done with it!”

Kunzite sighed in frustration. “That is not what I am saying at all. I just-"

“I remember how it was in the Dark Kingdom! You wanted Ami so you corrupted her and she rejected you! Now you see her getting close to me and you can’t stand it, so you come up with this bullshit story to make me stand down but I WON'T!”

Enraged, Nephrite lunged forward to swipe his sword into Kunzite. He quickly shifted aside, causing the red shitennou to stumble. He whirled around to find Kunzite's sword unsheathed and pointed at him.

“When you are done with this tantrum of yours you will see that the conspiracy you’ve cooked up is but your own self-doubt getting the better of you!”

Undeterred, Nephrite attacked again. This time Kunzite blocked and struck back. It took no time at all for him to have the upper hand. With a final swoop of his blade, he knocked Nephrite’s sword out of his hand and sent it spinning to the ground. As it did Kunzite used the distraction to grab the front of the red shitennou’s jacket and pull him in until their faces were inches apart.

“Listen. To. Me. It gives me no pleasure telling you these things, especially with your pig-headedness! When you wanted to go off and “play human" I let it slide because I saw the peace it gave you, but now that your life is possibly at stake I can no longer stand by and watch it happen. Again.”

Kunzite’s face went from rage to fear and sorrow. He let a now bewildered Nephrite go and turned away.

“Seeing your dead body in the rubble with the others as the Earth Kingdom fell in our past-life to watching Beryl force you to stab yourself with your own sword, I could not stand to watch you die again, knowing you would never come back.”

From behind, Nephrite watched the elder shitennou’s shoulders rise with a heavy, ragged exhale. This was a side of Kunzite he had never seen. The side that shouldered extreme loss, both in the past life and the present. He recalled when Zoicite was slain by the yoma he sent after the reincarnated Princess Serenity. Even far away and stripped of his powers, Nephrite felt that loss. Like a piece of his own body being cut out and feeling it wither away. It was horrible.

Kunzite had experienced that feeling three fold.

Nephrite stood there holding his wrist, now feeling ashamed of his boorish behavior. He wracked his mind for something he could say to give Kunzite some solace. Eloquence was never his strong suit.

“What if…”, the red shitennou began timidly. “What if Ami and I never have children?”

Kunzite looked over his shoulder and cast Nephrite a sympathetic look. “Unfortunately, that alternative isn’t any less bleak.”

“What do you mean?” Nephrite asked, now growing worried.

Kunzite faced forward again. “I had hoped you would have figured it out for yourself by now. You – all four of us, while not exactly immortal, have an indefinite life span. We can live for hundreds, thousands of years, and not die or grow old. Ami, however, is mortal. She’s in the prime of her life now, but it doesn’t last. And death will come for her sooner than you realize. Do you understand what that means?”

Nephrite opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He was so wrapped up in his petty insecurities over how Ami felt about him and this other man, he never stopped to consider her mortality and his relative lack thereof. Suddenly feeling the weight of everything brought to light, Nephrite began to find it difficult to think coherently at all.

Noticing the look of distress in his wide, unblinking eyes, Kunzite placed a comforting hand on the red shitennou’s shoulder, breaking him out of his mind fog.

“Nephrite, there is another option. You can simply walk away and rededicate yourself fully to your duties as a shitennou. If you wish, you can protect Ami from afar as you have done in the past but not become involved. Or better yet, try to forget her. That would be the best option for you both.”

Nephrite flinched away from Kunzite’s hand. “I could never! I’ve waited too long for a chance with Ami to walk away now. Even if she rejects me.”

The elder shitennou shook his head with a look of pity. “Very well. If your heart is really set on this fool's errand of yours, I won’t stand in your way.”

Kunzite turned to leave, but stopped. He smiled to himself then looked back to Nephrite.

“You know, if there was ever a woman who was worth all this trouble, it's her. She is…truly extraordinary.”

The defensive cast on Nephrite’s face lifted and was replaced with a small, sideways smile, thinking of Ami; her voice, her warmth, her gentle kindness, her wit.

“Yes, she is", he finally responded.

“And for what it’s worth, if Ami has chosen to give you the time of day there must be something extraordinary she sees in you.”

Nephrite raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Did you just…pay me a compliment?”

“Don’t let it get to your head”, Kunzite jibed back, restoring his usual disapproving tone. “You’re still a swaggering idiot and a pain in my ass.”

Nephrite rolled his eyes with a smirk.

“Maybe you should have a child with Ami, if only get a taste of your own medicine.”

“Weren’t you leaving, Kunzite?”

The elder shitennou shot a wry look with a smile and dissolved into the night but not before commenting audibly to himself, “A miniature Nephrite, god help us all”.

The next day at work while making copies, Nephrite quietly ruminated on the facts presented to him by Kunzite. The repetitive whir of the copier somehow made it easier to think.

_So either I die or I watch her die…hasn’t it happened to me, what, two, three times already? Doesn’t scare me anymore. But Ami..._

The mere thought of her dying, or in danger or pain in any way gave him the impulse to summon his blade and vanquish the source of her distress. Old age, death itself, however was one foe he knew he could never slay for her…

“Nephrite!”

He was snapped back from his thoughts by the stern voice and unpleasant face of his supervisor. “I need those copies collated and on my desk within the hour! And don’t let me catch you spacing out on the job again!” “Yes, of course. Right away.”

Meanwhile a text Ami sent to Nephrite’s cell phone from the night before remained unread, as he had an awful habit of keeping it on silent even outside of work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So happy for those of you who have read and enjoyed Perfect so far!
> 
> Had to bring up the rating for language, violence and all the "thrusts"
> 
> Yes the Umino who has dinner with Ami and her Mom is Gurio Umino, the nerd who wound up dating Naru in the anime! I thought it would be fun to give him a little cameo as Neph's rival!
> 
> In writing this chapter, I did a lot more research into the mythology behind the shitennou. It is actually Nephrite's job to watch over everyone as a celestial protector, and his corrisponding animal is the Vermillion Suzaku (think Phoenix). All the shitennou have corresponding animals, which is where their unique costume designs for PGSM came from. I gotta hand it to whomever desiged their costumes - they really did their homework!
> 
> The whole thing about Ami and Neph's kid slowly killing him is totes my own creation, though with the way NephAmi ended in the series it kinda insinuates that its sonehow taboo for a shitennou to fallin love with a human, so I just gave a concrete reason why. Also I find it kinda silly that there can be eleventy jillion senshi but only four shitennou, a totes unfaiir rule which I find would fit the PGSM-verse perfectly. Additionally, in my research, the shitennou are decribed as kind of "demi-gods" who can live millions of years, which would pose an issue to Neph wanting a serious relationship with Ami, and there's no "Twilight-ing" your way out of dealing with your beloved's mortality here, kids. 
> 
> When I was stuck I did a couple of rewatches of PGSMv to get more of a feel of Neph as a character and what his "vibe" is. I've concluded he's a frustrated virgin who uses fighting and agression as a way to get that tension out. It makes the most sense in his dealings with Darkury, who gets under his skin right away. So I had a lot of fun weaving a lot of innuendo and sexual imagry into his yoma fight, also a physical manifestation of his anxiety and overthinking.
> 
> Yeah, Kunzite still carries a torch for Ami, but isint going to try to rival Neph. He rightly assumes that Ami associates him with her time as Darkury and wouldn't feel very comfortable around him. But he gets why Neph would risk everything for Ami - she is pretty special.
> 
> Kunzite also genuinely cares for Neph, as essentially a father figure. The shitennou are pretty much the only family they have, so despite all the bickering and disaproval, Kunzite is pretty protective.


	3. Texting Your Crush in the Bathroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter is "this is girl-world so all the fighting has to be sneaky". The rest is "Poor Neph can't see the forest for the trees!"

At the pristine home of Dr. Saeko Mizuno, her daughter Ami met with her for afternoon tea. An outsider would look at the scene and see nothing more than a relaxed meeting between a parent and their adult child. Ami saw the gleaming tea set, tray of meticulously arranged biscuits and sandwiches, and earl grey steeped to the perfect temperature, and saw the set-up for exactly what it was – an interrogation.

“How did your dinner with Guiro-san go?” The elder Dr. Mizuno asked between quiet sips of tea.

“Very well.” Ami replied politely, not wanting to divulge too much. “

Wonderful. When _will_ you be seeing him again?”

The younger Dr. Mizuno blinked but maintained her calm expression. “Well, if we do it would only be as friends.”

“Really? Why is that?”

Ami's eyes became downcast. “There was no…spark – no chemistry.”

“Ami, there is more to a long-lasting relationship than just chemistry “, the elder Dr. Mizuno responded in a lecturing tone.

“I know. It just didn’t feel right with him.”

“Very well. In that case, there are other young men I could introduce you to.”

Ami set down her tea cup in its saucer with a loud clatter. “Mama! I appreciate the thought but I do not need you to keep setting me up.”

“We've discussed this; now that you’ve moved back home and your doctoral career is secure, it’s now time for you to consider settling down.”

“Couldn’t I just enjoy my life as it is right now without being concerned about what’s next – for once?”

The elder Dr. Mizuno noticed Ami nervously fidget with the pearl bracelet around her left wrist.

“It’s that _friend_ of yours, isn’t it? The one who gifted you that bracelet?”

Ami's cheeks turned slightly pink. “That has nothing to do with it.”

“Like hell it doesn’t. As I recall when you came here for the dinner with Gurio-san with that bracelet on your wrist, you looked positively giddy. Though you tried your best to hide it, I could tell.” The elder Dr. Mizuno was right and Ami knew it.

After a weighty silence, she relented. “We’re not… _dating_ , exactly. We’re just enjoying each other’s company when we can. That’s all it is right now.”

“I suspect it’s a little more than that judging by the bracelet; while not the most expensive piece of jewelry, whomever bought it for you spent quite a bit. Certainly the kind of gift a man with serious _romantic_ intentions would give.”

As her mother spoke, Ami looked down at the bracelet, studying it in a way she hadn’t before. She thought it was very pretty and the fact that Nephrite bought because it reminded him of her endeared it to her greatly, but she never stopped to think how it reflected his intentions. The soft way he looked at her, the blushes he’d try to hide with a playful remark; sometimes she thought it was nothing more than the remnants of an old crush, but as in her past interpretation of other people’s emotions, she was often wrong.

“It is a man, Ami?” The seemingly out-of-nowhere question snapped her right out of her contemplative state.

“Mama! Yes!” She answered incredulously.

“No need to be so defensive, I was just curious”, the elder Dr. Mizuno asserted while taking a bite of sandwich. “I had wondered for awhile, given how intense your friendship with Tsukino-san was early on.”

The younger Dr. Mizuno sat back in her chair silently, feeling more unglued by her mother’s line of questioning.

“Well I’m glad for that. It would be nice to have grandchildren at some point.”

“Can we please change the subject?” Ami asked, having re-straightened her posture, hoping to gain some kind of control over the conversation.

Across town, Nephrite was checking his cell phone for the first time that day, in the bathroom at work. His heart jumped straight into his throat the moment he saw that Ami left him a text message.

_Nephrite –_

_I’d like to meet up again soon. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about in person._

_\- Ami_

A mixture of excitement and terror coursed through his body.

_Ami wants to see me!_

_….to tell me something she can’t through text…._

_So this must be it, the moment she’s gonna tell me she can’t see me any more cause she’s now dating this other guy her mother likes. Well that makes things simple on my end. Kunzite will certainly be relieved._

_Best not prolong the inevitable, I guess._

Feeling full of melancholy, Nephrite texted his response.

Back at her mother’s, Ami could distinctly hear the sound of her cellphone vibrating in her purse. Feeling grateful for the excuse to take a break from her mother’s teatime interrogation, she excused herself and went to the bathroom.

_Ami –_

_I get off work in a few hours. If you want, we can meet at Arisugawa-no-miya park tonight around 6._

_\- Nephrite_

Ami felt a smile spread across her face with the promise of seeing Nephrite again and to finally tell him about the feelings she’s been grappling with for the last few days – no, more like 8 years.

The red shitennou was actually startled by how quickly Ami responded.

_Nephrite –_

_Sounds good! I’ll see you then._

He responded and shut his phone closed. Nephrite was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the meet-up with Ami. The promise of being around her always made him feel happy, and once he’d get over his nerves he actually felt calm. The dread was knowing that this was likely the end of his hope of getting closer to her. Maybe she’d offer her friendship as consolation, but he didn’t know how well he could handle platonically spending time with her just to watch her walk away with some other guy’s arm around her.

The last couple of hours of his work day went by quicker than he anticipated. All of a sudden, it was 5 o’clock. Only one hour stood between him and probable doom. Nephrite did the one thing he could think of to eat up 60 minutes before his nerves ate him alive – well besides finding and killing a yoma. He took a long walk in the hope that he would be calm by the time he had to meet with Ami.

The light was quickly fading from the sky. It was time. As Nephrite made his way to the park, he went through a mental checklist of how best to get through Ami’s rejection of him in order to minimize the awkwardness for them both.

_Okay so when she rejects you, don’t say or do anything to make her feel bad. Keep a smile on your face even though you’ll be feeling like you’re dying inside, and make a quick exit when it’s all done – lingering would just make it worse. Simple enough._

He turned a corner and there she was, Ami Mizuno waiting under the same equestrian statue he waited under only a few days ago. Was it possible that she looked even more beautiful now than she did then? The wind played softly with her hair and her eyes seemed to sparkle in the early evening as the streetlights came on. Her whole being practically glowed. 

"It’s not fair...” Nephrite thought to himself, feeling a premature pang of rejection. He forced himself to make those last few steps to her.

“Ami?” She looked up and smiled.

“Nephrite! Thank you for coming down to see me.” He smile back at her.

“It’s no problem. There was something you wanted to talk to me about?”

Ami took a shaky breath. “Yes. As you know I had dinner with Umino last night. We certainly had a lot to talk about, given our respective fields…”

_Here it comes…_

“And, well, at the end of the night we kissed.”

“I see”, Nephrite replied with his eyes looking away. “So you and him are now official?”

Ami blinked. “Nephrite, no, let me explain. When I kissed him, all I could think about was that moment when we met here, and I handed you your tea and our fingers touched. I felt more in that moment than when I had my lips pressed against his. There was nothing.”

Nephrite stared down at her, now completely lost and unsure of how feel.

“So I thanked him for the dinner, then told him we were better off as friends because there is someone else I have feelings for.” As she spoke, a slow blush spread across her face.

The red shitennou’s brow furrowed in confusion, clearly misunderstanding what Ami was implying. “Well, who is that?”

She looked up at the confused man with glistening eyes and giggled with slight trepidation. She clasped her hands to steady herself. “It’s you! In fact, now I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”

As she spoke her confession, a single tear fell gently down her face.

The sight took Nephrite away from the initial shock of her confession. “Ami! Why are you crying?”

More tears came and she tried in vain to wipe them away while looking down a his feet. “Well I’ve never confessed my feelings for someone before. I’m feeling very vulnerable right now.”

Nephrite wrapped his arms around the crying, flustered woman in front of him and brought her in close. He could feel her little body shudder as she buried her face into his chest. He couldn’t help but smile at the feeling of having Ami in his arms at last.

She pulled away slightly and attempted to tidy her face. “I must look like such a mess right now."

He raised his hand to her cheek and used his thumb to wipe away a stray tear she missed. Her mascara was slightly smudged around her eyes. “You look perfect.”

Ami’s smile widened. “Well?”, she asked expectantly.

“What?” Nephrite asked back, a little confused.

“I told you my feelings. Aren’t you going to tell me how you feel?”

He blushed furiously and ran his hand nervously through his hair. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“It’s only fair that you reciprocate!” Ami asserted with a cute pout. “Its _is_ what we do.”

Nephrite chuckled sheepishly.

_This girl really is going to be the death of me._

He looked deep into her eyes. “Ami, I’ve loved you for so long, but it took me awhile to figure it out, and all I’ve ever wanted since then was to be close to you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Was that so difficult?” Ami chided before rewarding him with a soft kiss on his cheek.

Nephrite buried his face into her hair returning the embrace, taking in her wonderful scent. “You have no idea.”

Their eyes met again. Their noses now touched and nuzzled together lightly. All Nephrite wanted now was to taste Ami’s inviting lips. He leaned in, closed his eyes, and tilted his head….

“Nefurichi-kun?!”

The annoyingly familiar voice broke through the romantic bubble the couple was in. Nephrite looked to the source to find the smiling punch-able face of his former coworker.

“Motoki?”

The gleeful man was accompanied by his wife, who looked apologetically embarrassed for the both of them.

“Mako-chan, hi!" Ami called out, still enveloped in Nephrite’s embrace.

Makoto waved back with an awkward smile. Motoki could not believe his eyes. “So are you and Ami finally together?”

The couple looked at each other. Ami smiled. “Yes, we are.”

“I knew it!” he exclaimed. “Ami-chan, did you know that back when we worked together at Crown, I actually asked him if he had a thing for you, and he said no!”

Nephrite rolled his eyes with a smirk. “Like I would have told you.” 

"Aaaaah, I could tell you had it bad for her!” Motoki teased back. “Especially with how insistent you were about paying her back for those cookies she made! I had a feeling when she moved back to Japan, you’d track her down!”

“Motoki, why don’t we leave these two alone to have their moment”, Makoto insisted. “I promise I’ll interrogate Ami all about it tomorrow.”

She put her arm around her husband to lead him away, but not before pointing at Nephrite with a stern look. “I kicked your ass a couple of times before. I have no issue doing it again.”

“I won’t give you reason to?” Nephrite replied with an uneasy chuckle. Makoto smiled brightly and left with Motoki.

Ami tugged playfully at Nephrite’s jacket. “You had better take her seriously. She actually punched Mamoru in the face once!”

“Really? Well I’d better be a model boyfriend then!” His smile immediately snuffed out, realizing how assuming what he just said was.

Nephrite looked away from Ami’s gaze, feeling unsure. She cupped his face in her hands, her eyes warm and affirming. “I think I like the sound of that.”

Without another word, she pressed her lips against his. The instant of contact for both of them felt like fireworks spilling over everywhere. Slowly he relaxed into Ami's kiss and pulled her in closer.

Everything was warm and wonderful between Ami and Nephrite. Despite the fact it had softly began to snow, neither felt the cold at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a lot of libeties with Saeko Mizuno's characterization, since we never got a lot of interaction btw her and Ami in PGSM. I just went ahead and made her a little more "cu*ty" just so I could get through that part of the chapter and move on with the rest of the story.
> 
> I have this image in my head of Ami and Neph's wedding reception, where her mom is sitting at the bar and Kunzike (in human form) goes over and totally "puts the moves" on her! They would seem to get along in my fanfic world.
> 
> Of course I had to bring Motoki back to embarrass Neph at just the right moment. Also "big sister" Mako-chan to make sure he treats Ami right "or else"!
> 
> 10/14 Update: Re reading through ch 3 I realized that after Ami making a big deal of not feeling anything after kissing Umino, I for got to describe how her and Neph's first kiss felt. "Fireworks spilling out everywhere" is how I would describe a good first kiss with someone you have feelings for :3

**Author's Note:**

> Late last year I had a dream about these two exchanging Christmas gifts during a romantic park stroll and inspired me to write this fic. The way PGSM ended things with NephAmi has always left me feeling salty and I'm still wanting a happy ending for them :)
> 
> You may notice these two are pretty familiar which is because they may have crossed paths a few times while Ami studied medicine in America, which is within Nephrite’s jurisdiction as a shitennou (it's in the manga & the Buddhist mythoogy the shitennou are based on) It is canonically plausible that he watched over her from afar ;) A prequel fic for another day...
> 
> The "human houseplant" yoma Ami is referring to is from Act 4, which Nephrite did indeed send after Ami and the other senshi.
> 
> The Arisugawa-no-miya park is a real park that exists near the Juban district in Tokyo, which looks like a wooded garden out of a fairytale - the exact locale I was looking for Neph and Ami to fall deeper in their feelings for eachother. Coincidentally this is the same park where Nephrite dies in the anime. I find it poetic that Neph would live his best life in a location where in a privious interation his life ends. I'm just over here reclaiming sad aspects of his story for his happiness!
> 
> P.S. - the fics title is from the Ed Sheeran song of the same name.


End file.
